Amitai Etzioni is one of the most influential social and political
thinkers of our day, a man synonymous with the ideas of
communitarianism. In this book, Etzioni challenges those who argue that
diversity or multiculturalism is about to become the governing American
creed. On the surface, America may seem like a fractured mosaic, but the
country is in reality far more socially monochromatic and united than
most observers have claimed.
In the first chapter, Etzioni presents a great deal of evidence that
Americans, whites and African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans,
new immigrants and decedents of the Pilgrims, continue to share the same
core of basic American values and aspirations.
He goes on to show that we need not merely a civil but also a good
society, one that nurtures virtues. He assesses key social institutions
that can serve such a society ranging from revived holidays to greater
reliance on public shaming. The most effective sources of bonding and of
shared ideas about virtue, he insists throughout, come from the
community, not from the state.
Etzioni also challenges moral relativists who argue that we have no
right to "impose" our moral values on other societies. He responds to
those who fear that a cohesive community must also be one that is
oppressive, authoritarian, and exclusive. And he explores and assesses
possible new sources and definitions of community, including
computer-mediated communities and stakeholding in corporations.
By turns provocative and reassuring, the chapters here cut to the heart
of several of our most pressing social and political issues. The book is
further evidence of Etzioni's enduring place in contemporary thought.
